Nami/Personality and Relationships
Personality Along with Nico Robin, Nami is one of the smartest of the Straw Hats and the third smartest character in the East Blue according to Oda, the first being Benn Beckman of the Red Hair Pirates and the 2nd being Captain Kuro. At the beginning of the series, Nami despised all pirates. She viewed them as nothing but bad people after losing someone close to her, only changing her mind after she met Luffy. Before her view changed on pirates, she was perfectly fine with giving Luffy up captive to Buggy, as she could not bring herself to stoop to their level. She also dismissed the Devil Fruits as myths until she saw Buggy's Bara Bara no Mi in action. Nami is greedy and will do anything for money, accepting any challenge that comes along. Her love of money stems from her childhood, where she lived a poor life and was often upset at having little wealth despite the love of her adopted mother. While she will send in Luffy and the rest of the crew to meet the demand, the one thing she will not do is sell out a comrade; no matter what the sum. She has several times put her own crewmates in debt over trivial matters (like Luffy for tearing her coat and Zoro for borrowing 100,000 only not to spend it and return it later), her usual charge for repaying the debt being 300% interest, and will often bring up these debts in order to get someone to do something for her. She takes control of the amount of money the crew spends, ever aware of the crews spending habits (such as Luffy's desire to spend all they have on meat) and tries her hardest to avoid it getting spent all at once. To this end, she is in complete horror whenever the rest of the crew wastes money or passes up an opportunity to get it. She is loyal to her money, but no matter how much she denies it, her loyalty to her nakama comes first as seen when she decided to give up her agreed 1,000,000,000 deal with Igaram for protecting Vivi for Vivi's sake after Baroque Works was beaten (although she was upset about it and complained later), as well as willingly giving treasure to Lola and preparing to spend 200,000,000 worth of treasure (which they stole from Thriller Bark) to rescue Keimi from slavery. Nami is very bossy and is usually ordering everyone around, including Luffy, despite not being the captain herself. Nami's main concern when she is in trouble is herself first and usually has other members do her fighting, resulting in her fighting in fewer fights. She is a coward, though not on the same level as Usopp; her cowardice has more to do with survival. She is aware of dangers they face every day and has a much better understanding of the world and its more dangerous individuals (e.g. the Shichibukai) than most of her crew, though lacks Robin's knowledge on some of its other powerful figures (e.g. the marine Admirals) and organizations (e.g. the Yonko). She can be devilish at times and won't think twice about ditching the others to save her own life. She has been known to stand her ground against anyone hurting her comrades, abandoning her otherwise normal routine of trying to stay out of harm's way.Baroque Works Saga, Nami's fight against Baroque Works was mainly because of her friendship with Vivi.Water 7 arc and Enies Lobby arc, Nami's main reason for fighting was solely based on getting Robin back.Thriller Bark Arc, once again Nami abandons trying to run away and stands her ground when Absalom attacks Lola.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 50 Chapter 484 and Episode 376, Nami refuses to surrender Luffy. The best example came from her survival of Enel's game which left her as the only fighter standing besides him, she agreed to board his ship and go to his promised land out of fear after seeing all the strong fighters lose the game, but later after hearing his plans that would forsake the sky island, she soon turns on him. After the timeskip Nami seems less violent, such as when Luffy and Zoro nearly broke the coating on the ship it was Usopp and Chopper who scolded them for their reckless behavior and not Nami. However, in return for her lesser sympathetic personality traits, she is also one of the more compassionate crew members who is fast to show sympathy when hearing sad things about other people, and as she showed during the incident with Hatchan, she is willing to forgive even people who have hurt her for many years. She is easily one of the Straw Hat's most emotional members, she cries easily and she shows much understanding of and insight into feelings. This often makes her good to comfort her friends (though she has also done the opposite to comically effect), as shown during the crew's discussion on about whether Usopp should return or not, she insisted that Usopp should return. Nami also has an obsession with fashion, as she is never seen wearing the same clothes. This was not present in the early chapters and started after the Captain Kuro arc.Note: This is similar to Bulma, the female main character of Dragon Ball (Eiichiro Oda's favorite manga), who is never seen with the same hairstyle. When Nami goes shopping, she sometimes goes to exquisite boutiques and tries on many things, just to leave stating that she is searching for something more casual. She doesn't seem to have much modesty as she sometimes wears rather skimpy clothing and allows people to take photos of her wearing very little, such as swimsuits (as long as they pay). After the two year timeskip, she doesn't over-react, scold, or hit the crew as often for their rash actions anymore, like when she decides to take part in activities such as demanding money when the crew holds Ryugu Kingdom "hostage". In fact she appears quite calm in the most daunting of situations since the crew reunited, though is still prone to panic in the face of imminent danger (both shown during the descent to Fishman Island). Relationships Crew At first, Nami was excited to join the crew, but grew more reluctant once she learned that Luffy is a pirate because of her disgust of pirates. She betrayed Luffy and even wished him dead before he formed a crew.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 2 Chapter 13 and Episode 6, Nami expresses her opinions of Luffy being a pirate. Her original membership into the crew was just as an "alliance" with Luffy, which she later ended to return to her home village, but by then, she had become fond of the crew and found it was not so easy to just leave.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 2 Chapter 14 and Episode 6, Nami Becomes an official ally of the Straw Hat crew. After Arlong's defeat, she officially joined the crew. By then, she had completely changed her mind about her fellow crewmates. Even though Nami is only the navigator, the rest of the crew, including the captain, follow her orders without a question while on the ship, since they trust her instincts, knowing that she will steer them away from danger, and towards their next location. The only one who tends to disagree with her is Luffy, when he wants to do something like go to Skypiea, or tame a Kraken, but this is very rare. She soon came to respect Luffy's qualities as a leader, but often gets angry at his irrational thinking and short attention span. In such situations, she sometimes tends to get into violent outbreaks, often ordering him and the other members as well despite him being the captain. Despite this, she cares for and trusts Luffy very much as her captain, and he often serves as an emotional anchor for her during times of crisis. In fact, she cried for Luffy when he lost his older brother in the Whitebeard War. Overall, she appears to be one of the crew members that respects Luffy the most, often saying "Luffy and the crew" when she is in danger. Nami trusts Zoro in most situations but usually punishes Zoro for his lazy antics, such as Zoro's sleeping. Zoro, as every other crew member, listens to Nami due to her knowledge in Navigating and will follow her orders obediently. Nami and Zoro are usually found arguing, and Sanji intervening, but in serious situations she listens to Zoro. She also uses Usopp to maintain her weapons (and wriggling out of paying him for his service). However, upon them reuniting after two years apart she hugged him, complimenting him on how he has grown. Nami often takes advantage of Sanji with his devotion to her, ordering him to do her bidding. She is very fond of Chopper, and is the first of the crew to recognize him as a doctor. Nami gets along best with Robin, who is the only one she does not attempt to boss around or deceive, rather after despairing for the foolishness of the others crewmates she often goes to her seeking encourage, being "the only one who can rely on". She often refers to her as "onee-sama" or "Robin-nee-san", both commonly used for older sisters, and often spends time with her. When Nami goes shopping, she is often accompanied by a smiling Robin. Nami occasionally gets irritated with Franky (such as when he calls her "girlie"), but respects his shipwright skills and is often amazed at his inventions. She also gets extremely irritated with Brook when he constantly asks her if he could see her panties, but enjoys whenever Brook plays music like others do. Friends Genzo Back home, Genzo acted as a father figure to both Nami and Nojiko. He was very concerned about Nami's pose on her bounty attracting more perverts than bounty hunters, although he had enlarged picture of it himself. This is amusing considering the fact that he is more concerned about her picture than Nami being wanted.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 45 Chapter 440 and Episode 324, Nami's bounty poster reaches Genzo.After their mother's death, he became concerned for the happiness of Nami and Nojiko, as he had grown into a father figure to them. He and the other villagers realized Nami would never join up with Arlong's crew without good reason. His concern for her and Nojiko's well being also led him to promise Luffy that he would hunt him down and kill him if he ever took away Nami's smile. Cocoyasi Villagers The rest of the village still adores her, even after she steals their money before leaving. Even when she joined the Arlong Pirates without telling them her reason for the desire to become independent, they refused to believe that she would truly betray them (as shown by Genzo's confession that they coerced the truth from Nojiko), and supported her in secret. Vivi Nami also shared a close relationship with Vivi, to the point of an almost sisterly bond. Nami has a hot-tempered disposition, but Vivi is much more calm and collected. They switch personalities when something devastating happens; (i.e. Nami is the one to calm down while Vivi panics). The two form a quick bond and pair together in most situations. Like the rest of the crew, she was deeply upset about her leaving. Lola She also made a good friend of Lola the zombie warthog, to the point where she even helped set Lola and Absalom up for marriage. Their friendship transcended over into the real Lola when Thriller Bark was taken down. Lola had a strange feeling she already knew Nami from somewhere else despite never meeting her before, Nami was just happy to see her friend. To date, Lola has been the only person Nami has willingly handed some of her treasure over to.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 50 Chapter 486 and Episode 378, Lola and Nami are reunited. Lola now regards Nami as a sister, to ensure her and her friends were safe she gave Nami half of her Vivre Card for her mother. Haredas After Nami was 'sent' to the Sky Island of Weatheria, she quickly discovered by an old wizard like man named Haredas. Haredas tried cheering Nami up and remained friendly with her, even after she hit him. Nami respects Haredas and his knowledge over the weather, though she gets quickly annoyed with him in the same way she does with her crew. After Nami was imprisoned for trying to steal some of Weatheria's technology, Haredas was the one who bailed her out. Even though she earned the distrust of the other weather scientists, Haredas still accepted her. He took Nami under his wing for two years and taught her about weather and their technology. Apparently, during her two-year stay in Weatheria, Nami develped good relationships with the all the weather scientists as they not only allowed her to have some of their equipment but also helped Nami and her crew escape Sabaody Archipelago. Haredas himself commented that Weatheria was going to be a much lonelier place with her gone. Jinbe Nami holds no ill will towards Jinbe for what happened to her as a child under Arlong's rein of terror, even though Jinbe himself feels soley responsible for Arlong and his actions in East Blue. After Nami told him she holds no qualms towards him or the Fishman race as a whole, Jinbe broke into tears, saying that he is Indebted to her. Nami is then surprised at how much his guilt was eating away at him. It seems they have developed a friendship with each other (since Nami now refers to him as Jinbe-chan), and she also seems to care for his well being as she warned him about Wadatsumi's incoming attack during the Battle in Gyoncorde Plaza. Enemies Marines Nami is an enemy to the Marines, as she carries a bounty on her head. She especially has hatred towards the Marine Captain Nezumi. Acting on a tip from Arlong, he uncovered the treasure that Nami had been hoarding in order to buy back Cocoyashi Village, and confiscates it from her. Once Arlong is defeated, Nezumi attempts to intervene against the Straw Hat Pirates, but is quickly defeated, along with the Marines he brought with him, by Zoro. Then Nami quickly attacks him with her staff for destroying the orange grove and shooting Nojiko. She then forces him to return the stolen money, rebuild Cocoyasi Village, and clean up all the mess left over from Arlong's reign. Arlong Pirates Arlong and his pirates were her enemies for a long time; despite Arlong taking her into his crew she showed no love for them due to what they did to her village and for killing Bell-mere. Arlong had fought Luffy claiming that she was his crewmate in the fight, even admitting she was "cute" for a human and admitted he had no respect for humans yet she was one of about two humans he was seen to show respect for, the other being Nezumi. After he mentioned fishmen and their superiority over humans, Nami responded how tired she was of hearing it, leading Arlong to acknowledge her skills and in the only witnessed incident in his appearance. He then apologized saying that she simply couldn't help what species she was. However, this was simply because of her skill to draw maps and mistreated her constantly while she was on his crew, locking her in the tower and never properly feeding her. Despite his treatment, Arlong considered her as one of his brethren and always celebrated her return to Arlong Park. He would even have his crew celebrate when Nami 'came home' as greeting their returning sister. Nami acted the way he wanted her to. However, this led him to misjudge her character. This was mostly because of his own ideals based on materialistic values. He could not see how she wouldn't be happy unless she had clothes, money and a place to sleep. He also didn't see her betrayal happening until it was too late. Even at the final stages of his fight against Luffy, he still stated that he considered her a friend. She has stated that she has not forgiven Hatchan for what he did as part of the Arlong Pirates, but after seeing him get shot trying to hold Luffy back and hearing him say that he had hoped to do what he could to make up for what he had done, becomes concerned about his well-being and seemingly forgives him. Family Bell-mère She has come to terms with the idea that Bell-mere was her mother. In life she never saw eye to eye with her adoptive mother at times, in death Nami deeply missed her due to the fact she knew Bell-mere deeply loved her despite everything. Nami is seen drawing a picture of her after being forced into Arlong's crew, and sadly calling out her name in a moment of misery. She regularly visited her grave on the cliff top where she was buried and often thought about her. Also in her room she keeps a picture of Bellemere with a young Nami and Nojiko on her desk. Nojiko Nami values Nojiko the only person who loved and supported her through her years of stealing to buy the village. Though not related by blood, she supports Nami like a real sister. Growing up, she often supported Nami's bad habits of stealing, much to Bell-mere’s annoyance. She was deeply angry at Nami's original recruitment into Arlong's crew, but at the same time knew her sister enough to realize that she wouldn't join the crew without reason. Nami's forever hatred of her tattoo led Nojiko to get her own and at the time she told her adoptive sister she got her tattoos because she wanted some body art like Nami's, something Nami never forgot about when it came round to finally remove Arlong's tattoo.One Piece Manga and Anime - Vol. 11 Chapter 95 and Episode 44, Nami gets another tattoo because of Nojiko. Others As an orphan, Nami may have other family. However considering the circumstances behind her origins with Bell-mère and Nojiko and the fact that Bell-mère found both girls in a war zone, it seems unlikely her familial origin will ever be touched upon. References Site Navigation Category:Character Subpages